New Horizons
by PaintingMornings
Summary: England attempts a teleportation spell, though things don't go as well as he planned... Meanwhile, Haylin has no idea what to do with ten supposedly fictional anime characters staying at her home, especially with con rolling around. NO PAIRINGS.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay! Finally got it done!**

**This is the LONGEST chapter I've ever written in my whole entire life. 4,037 words, not including my abnormally long author's notes.**

**It's meh. Just okay. Kinda flopped at the end, really, but this is (kinda) like most "Hetalia gang in the Real World" stories. I'm just playing with idea, just like _Newcomers_, just for laughs, sharpening my writing style, and for practicing with my characters.**

**Honestly, after writing this, Haylin began competing with Justice as my favorite OC...**

**So.. R&R!**

* * *

Haylin wrapped her coat around her body a little tighter, clutching her umbrella as she shuffled her feet impatiently, watching the stoplights with shifting eyes. Around her, the grey rain drizzled down, slightly obstructing her view.

_Stupid stoplight. Can't you see I'm _freezing _in the rain out here?! Sheesh. _She sighed, flipping out her phone, and scrolled through her playlist. Deciding to go for something that would cheer her up, Haylin tapped Italy's Hatafutte Parade, smiling slightly.

_You've never failed me, Italy- don't fail me now! _Personally, Haylin enjoyed the Hetalia songs, even if she never really understood the lyrics. She really only knew English, though she planned on changing that soon. She couldn't help but share the optimistic persona of Italy, and she began to hum to Hatafutte Parade as she scrolled through her messages.

After throwing away some spam texts and the sort, she stopped short on a message from Justice, only from a few minutes earlier-

_"Heyas, Haylin! How's it going? Heard your folks are out for a while-Jamie and I'r gonna come over in five minutes, 'kay? Getting ready for Con! See ya' soon!_

_P.S. I finally got Jay into Hetalia! Yay! But she's an Italy fan, unfortunately. Not a Prussia fan. Darn."_

She smiled. She knew that Justice was a serious Prussia fan, and that she'd be slightly disappointed at her sister's choice of favorite. And Con. They were all excited, never being to one before, and they were all going to Haylin's to plan for the trip. She just needed to head home in five minutes and- Haylin paused. _When was the message sent? _

Haylin's eyes flashed to the time- 4:38. She looked at the time the message was sent- 4:27. She did some quick mental math, then groaned. She was six minutes late. Justice wasn't gonna like this... At least Warren was home to let them in, our of the rain (which Justice happened to hate with a passion).

She sighed. At least it couldn't get any worse...

That was when she heard the voices.

At first it was a dreary drizzle, like the rain, and, at first, Haylin wondered if was just her imagination.

But, eventually, the voices grew, up until she was able to pick up individual words and voices.

"That's funny, I actually don't know where we are."

"You git! You're in your own bloody _country, _for God's sake! How could you _not _know?!"

"I dunno."

"WHAT?! That's the best excuse you can make?! Why you little-"

"Um..." a voice whispered, but it sounded as if it were ignored.

"You two need to stop fighting, aru. Can't you see we're gonna get sick in this rain, aru?"

"Ve~! Isn't this rain fun?" the exclamation was followed by a loud splash, then a collection of sighs, grunts, and a colorful string of curses.

One gruff voice stood out. "Please, don't jump in the puddles."

There was a squeak. "Sorry!"

"Ack! You just got my beautiful clothes dirty!"

"Just shut up."

"But they were ruined! And America has no fashion taste whatsoever! I can't get anything like this again, and-"

"Just. Shut. Up."

"I AM AWESOME!" someone randomly screamed, followed by a loud smack.

"Look, there is a little girl over there," one voice said, and Haylin lifted her head when she realized they were talking about her. "Maybe we could ask her for directions, da?"

_Oh dear God. _More_ lost travelers. Doesn't it seem as if we get a_ little _too much around here? _

But, for some reason, their voices struck with familiarity, as if she had met them before. _But that's absolutely impossible. When had I ever met a bunch of rowdy young adults? _Haylin was sixteen herself, but, judging from their voices, she could tell they were around their late teens or early twenties.

And, obviously, their maturity levels were _way _below that.

She rubbed her head. _Maybe that fever's just getting to my head and I'm hallucinating..._

Sighing, Haylin paused her phone (which had just began playing Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman), placed it into her coat pocket, and turned to face the group.

_Woah. _Her mind almost stopped. _Are those... cosplayers?! But... WHAT?!_

Standing in front of her were ten young men (even to Haylin, who had no interest in boys in general and vowed to stay single forever and ever, had to admit they were pretty good looking), and, to her surprise, they looked just like some characters from Hetalia- the Axis and Allied Powers, as well as Prussia and... was that Canada?

_They... they _look _like they would be cosplaying- they have the clothing and hair and EVERYTHING- but guys almost _never_ cosplay! And it looks too real! What the..?!_

The one that looked like Russia- he even had the _scarf_ and the _height _down, for God's sake- walked up to Haylin with _the same freaking creepy smile as Russia. _

_ That's it! I've finally gone insane! _Haylin was staring at them with wide eyes, causing everyone to shuffle uncomfortably under her gaze- except for the Russia lookalike, who was completely oblivious to the fact that Haylin was staring at him as if he were some celebrity.

"Hello there, young American girl! We are lost, and we would like to know where we are," he asked sweetly, with _the same freaking Russian accent as Russia._

_ Why am I getting the impression that these aren't just normal cosplayers? _It was almost as is they were the _actual _country personifications by Hidekaz Himaruya himself...

_But... but that's impossible! It's an _Anime_! Not reality!_

She snapped closed her jaw that she hadn't noticed was hanging open and cleared her throat. "Uh... oh, you're in South Florida. Pembroke Pines, near Ft. Lauderdale," Haylin explained, still staring at them, now looking at the one that looked like America.

_He's even got the little Nantucket hair thing right! And he's also got Texas! And the bomber jacket! Down to the last detail-_

The England look-alike coughed lightly, giving her a puzzled look.

"Um, excuse me?" he prodded, raising one of his bushy eyebrows _that was exactly like England's_ (again, sending Haylin's mind into vertigo). "Is there something wrong?"

Haylin blinked, a blank look on her face, then shook her head vigorously. "No, no, it's fine! I, just, um..." she breathed loudly. "You guys just remind me of some people..."

_They definitely don't _seem _like cosplayers. They seem pretty lost..._

"Hm?" he questioned. "Who?"

_Wait. _Haylin's heart stopped. _What if... what if they _are _the countries?! No, no! You shouldn't let Alex's stupid ideas go to your head! You sanity is already delicate as it is! They. Are. Not. Real. Repeat it, repeat it..._

"Er, I-I don't remember." she said quickly, then thought for a moment. "Well, um... what are your names?" _I'll get something out of this._

The British man smiled. "I am Arthur Kirkland."

Haylin almost fainted. _W-what?! No no no no no no no no no no-_

"Y-you sure?" she squeaked out, and he looked puzzled.

"Of course. What makes you think that?"

_ Hm, I don't know! Hey, maybe the fact that that's the human name for ENGLAND'S PERSONIFICATION in an ANIME. What do you freaking THINK?!_

But Haylin could tell he wasn't lying. He was telling the truth.

The complete, utter, truth.

_It's official! Completely official! Sign the paperwork! Send me to a mental hospital! I have gone insane! Oh, dear Lord._

"N-nothing..." she muttered, then turned to the American. "Um, how about you?"

He flashed a triumphant grin- more like heroic, when Haylin thought about it- and flashed a pose. "Alfred F. Jones! The HERO!"

_No! It's not happening! Dear God, help me get out of this horrible nightmare!_

The Chinese man smiled warmly. "Wang Yao, aru."

_Ack! This is a dream! All a dream!_

The blonde Frenchman winked. "Francis Bonnefoy."

_Why did it have to be me? Why me, why me?!_

The Italian grinned madly, and Haylin noticed the curl on the left side of his hair, stubbornly defying physics. "Feliciano Vargas, ve~!"

_Alex is never going to let me hear the end of this!_

The German simply nodded. "Ludwig Beilschmidt."

_I bet the laws of physics and reality just DIED._

The man next to him, who seemed German (though Haylin knew he was Prussian) but slightly different with his albino hair and crimson eyes, laughed and slapped his brother on the back. "And I'm the awesome brother of the un-awesome Ludwig- Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

_How Justice finds this crazy, beery-breathed man 'attractive' is completely out of my mind! As well as my sanity! I bet Kiku Honda's next..._

The Japanese man bowed. "Kiku Honda."

_I knew it! HA! HA! Ha! Ha. Ha... That's it. I've finally gotten mental problems..._

The Russian smiled ominously. "Ivan Braginsky, da."

_Take my life now, God. Please..._

In the back, a Canadian smiled sweetly. "Eh, Matthew Williams..." For some reason, he was holding a polar bear.

_Is... is that Kumajiro?! B-but...ugh, my brain hurts. _Kumajiro looked at his owner, Matthew/Canada/Canadian person/cosplayer/whatever. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ca-Matthew..." Haylin caught the slip in his words, and gasped inwardly. _He- he was about to say 'Canada'!_

Germany/Ludwig looked at her. "Vat's your name?"

She gulped. "H-Haylin. Haylin Riddle." she said with a shaky voice, struggling to keep the panic rising in her throat like bile out of her voice.

France/Francis smiled. "That is quite a beautiful name," he crooned, attempting to flirt with her, but Haylin just scowled angrily.

"Hmph. That ploy's not going to work on me. I plan on staying single," she grunted, then looked at the group as a whole, struggling to keep herself calm and collected.

_Deep breath, take a deep breath- in, out. In, out._

"So, um, are you guys cosplayers?" she asked, silently hoping that they would say yes and say that those aren't their real names and Haylin would be out of the twisted mess...

Unfortunately, Haylin wasn't that naive and could guess their answer.

"No." Arthur/England said. "Why? It it because we look familiar, like you said earlier?"

"What?" she sputtered. "No! Well, I just thought that since people don't really come to our humble little city to visit often so..."

She let her voice trail off, and Haylin shuffled her feet awkwardly as a silence fell over them all. It was obvious that they ten guys needed a place to stay. Eventually, China spoke up.

"Do you happen to have a hotel near by, aru?"

Haylin shook her head. "Sorry, no. The closest one's a few miles away, and it'll take awhile if you just walked. Which, by the way, isn't very smart, especially with this weather." She pointed to their clothes, which were obviously not suited for weather. Meanwhile, Haylin was warmly stuffed in her red rain coat, safe from the rain.

_Anyways, _she added mentally, _I don't think they accept fictional characters._

England interjected. "Well, do you know anywhere we could stay? You know, just for tonight? We... seem to be lost at the moment."

_No DUH. Of course you're lost,_ Haylin thought bitterly, but pushed the thought away. _Well, they do look like they need the help... _

_But what if they're lying and decide to ransack the house? Dad and Mom'll _kill _me. Well, maybe the fact that I brought in ten strangers into the house is reason enough..._

_... Well, it's a good thing I have a hyper teenage girl and a psychotic teenage guy staying over tonight._

Deciding to take her chances, she turned to the men and sighed. "Well, my place's open tonight," she offered, and they looked at her, surprised.

"But... it's your home," Japan stuttered. "We shourd not force you to accommodate us-"

"No, no, it's fine," Haylin insisted. "I have friends over, anyways- won't hurt to have more. And besides," she added, "I've got a pretty big house in Southwest Ranches. I think I have enough for all of you." _Uhg. Then I'll have to put Jamie, Justice, Alex, and myself into my room to give them room... Or maybe we can sleep on the couch beds or something? And there's some room in the den, I guess... _Haylin mentally facepalmed. _Uhg. Whatever. I'll think about it when I get home._

As an afterthought she added, _And when did I get so calm...?_

She sighed, blaming it on her oncoming insanity, and beckoned to the waiting men. "Come on, this rain's not gonna stop anytime soon."

* * *

Eventually, they arrived at her house- a nice, Spanish/Mediterranean-style sized home. Unlike many of the homes in the town, it was not gated, but it was still a nice property- seven bedrooms with four full bathrooms, along with a nice little pool and backyard in the back.

Haylin smirked. _The perks of being rich._

Both of her parents were successful business people, and the _Menchie's _franchise they owned only added more to their profit. And, anyways, it was nice being able to stroll into the frozen yogurt store and get a cup for free.

She turned behind her, frowning slightly when she saw the 'countries' a few paces behind her, whispering amongst each other. Haylin was hoping to get some information by eavesdropping on them, but they had wisely kept their distance away from her, avoiding from talking loudly. Haylin, deciding that trying to get close to their conversation wasn't worth the risk, grudgingly stayed ahead.

Stepping firmly onto the porch, hearing the familiar click of her boots, she fumbled with her keys. When finding the correct one after a few moments, she thrust it into the key slot with a lot more force than she needed to, surprising herself (as well as the other 'countries' assembled around her).

Grunting softly, Haylin jerked the key clockwise (later wondering how it didn't break) and pushed the door open.

Suddenly there was an outburst of sound, screams and possibly some curses followed by an exasperated gasp. "Justice, watch your language!"

"SHUT UP! IMMA WIN THIS RACE WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR _NOT_!"

"Ha!" a boy's voice rang out in triumph. "Blue Shell for the WIN! In your _face, _Justice!"

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO-" they heard an explosion rip from the speakers. "CURSE YOU, WARREN! CURSE YOU AND YOUR _STUPID_ MARIO KART WII! I WILL PERSONALLY _RIP_ YOU APART WITH MY TWO BARE HANDS-"

"Justice!" the first voice exclaimed.

"Yeah, Justice." the boy scoffed. "Listen to Jamie. Be a sport, girl- w- wait! YES! Ha, look! I passed you! Diddy Kong passes Toadette!" he yelped in victory.

"YOU HYPOCRITE!" Justice screamed in an ear-shattering screech. "YOU- YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, WARREN RIDDLE! I WILL GIVE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH, YOUR BLOOD WILL DRIP DOWN MY FINGERS AND YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF TORTURE-"

Before anything more could be heard, Haylin slammed the door shut, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in utter surprise and shock.

Behind her, the guys were all wearing about the same expression- shock, surprise, disgust, and fear- except for the Russian.

"I like that girl," he said simply, smiling. Next to him, the Chinese man shivered.

Haylin grinned awkwardly, looking apologetic.

"Erm, sorry 'bout that." She coughed softly, clearing her throat. "Um, how 'bout you guys stay out here and I'll... clear things up in there, 'kay?"

Without waiting for a reaction, she creaked open the door (again met with a blast of booming speakers, laughing, and a raging Justice), quickly shuffled inside, and slammed the door behind her.

Haylin hastily made her way to the living room, where she was met with the sight of her two friends and twin brother- Justice, Jamie, and Warren, respectively- clutching onto Wii remotes in their sweaty palms. They were madly racing, twisting their remotes left and right, so absorbed in their game (with the occasional threat and curse thrown around by none other than Justice herself) that they didn't even notice Haylin until she coughed a few moments later.

Three heads swiveled around to meet a deep scowl.

Warren blinked, then paused the game (much to Justice's disappointment). "Wow. Someone's in a bad mood, huh, sis?"

Not bothering to shoot something back, Haylin pointed to the stairs, aiming her gaze at Justice and Jamie. "Upstairs. Now. My room."

The two of them scrambled away, knowing better than to argue with an angry Haylin.

She sighed, her eyes following the two receding teens, then turned to Warren, rubbing the back of neck worriedly.

He looked at her questioningly. "What was that about?"

Haylin rolled her eyes. "Nothing much. I just brought something that would probably make Justice overreact."

"Oh?" Warren raised an eyebrow. "What is it? Is it that Oreo cheesecake you were gonna pick up?"

She blinked. "Hm? What cheesecake-" suddenly the memory hit her like a train, and she smacked herself on the forehead. "Oh! OH! That cheesecake! The one from Ms. Jensen!" Haylin groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Ugh, how can I be so _stupid_? If it weren't for _them-"_

"Wait," Warren interrupted. "Who's them?"

She peeked from between her fingers, frowning. "You won't believe me when I tell you."

Warren returned the frown with a straight and steady expression. "After what I've been through, I'm not sure I_ won't _be able to believe you."

Haylin smiled slightly, knowing it was probably true. "Well... maybe it would be better if I just show you. C'mon." she tugged on her brother's wrist and lugged him upstairs to a nearby window that overlooked the front porch.

"Make sure _they _don't see you," she hissed, and Warren rolled his eyes at her.

"Will you stop calling them _they? _You make it sound as if they were an alien race that crash landed on Earth."

"Just look." Haylin told him, not bothering to tell him how close he actually was to the truth.

He sighed, then shifted the bottom corner of the curtain slightly, glancing outside. With a smirk, she saw his eyes widen.

"Remember that anime I showed Justice a while ago?" she asked Warren, not taking her eyes off of his slowly growing expression of surprise.

He nodded slowly, still staring outside. After a few moments, he was able to stutter something from his mouth. "They... they look _just_ like them..."

Haylin grimaced. "Exactly."

She turned to Warren with a sigh. "I don't know _what_ happened, or _how_ it happened, but it seems as if they're here."

"But..." he was still looking outside. "How... how do you know they're not just cosplaying? In the rain? Erm..."

Haylin shook her head grimly. "Don't think so. I'll- I'll just deal with this stupid mess later." she looked out the window, where Justice's bike was splayed lazily on the front porch. "I'm going to Ms. Jensen's place to pick it up with Justice's bike. Tell Justice I'm going to borrow her stuff, and _make sure she doesn't come downstairs. _At _all costs. _I already have enough problems as it is, and I can't afford to have anymore. Got it?"

Warren nodded. "Got it."

"I'm going to go outside and let them in, okay? After that I'll leave."

Warren gulped. "But what about Mom and Dad? If they find out-"

Haylin shook her head. "I'll make sure that they're gone by the time Tuesday comes around. Don't worry, I have it all under control! I think," she muttered afterwards.

Almost missing the worried expression on Warren's face, she hurried downstairs, avoiding anymore questioning. Opening the front door, she saw that everybody was waiting patiently outside (well, not _everybody_- there were a few obvious exceptions), and they looked up expectantly when they saw her open the door.

"Well," Haylin began, "I got everything cleared up inside. I guess you can come in now. Um..." _What do you do when you invite these kind of people in? _"Er, if you need anything, you can ask Warren, my brother." _I guess that works._ "I need to go out for a few minutes to pick up some cheesecake from a friend's place. Any questions?"

Not bothering to wait, she said, "Okay, good. Bye! AND DON'T MESS ANYTHING UP."

Haylin snatched the bike, pulled it up, and was well on her way.

Italy blinked, then turned to Germany. "She reminds me of you a little, Germany..."

"Nein," he muttered, then turned to the door, which had just opened again. Warren's head poked out, and he grinned nervously. "Uh, hi there! I'm Warren, but I guess you could've guessed that already." he chuckled. "Well, erm... welcome? I guess?"

He swung open the door, beckoning them inside. "Well, make yourselves at home, then. Well, not _home home_, I mean. Well..." he sighed in exasperation. "Well, just... don't come upstairs. We're still, er, preparing the rooms. You can do something down here, if you'd like. And there's food in the fridge- but don't touch Haylin's goat cheese stash. She'll kill you. Anything else is pretty much okay, I guess."

He shot a glance upstairs. "Gotta go. I'll be back in a flash, just you wait."

With that, he sprinted upstairs, barging into Haylin's room- where he found Justice and Jamie sitting on Haylin's laptop, giggling like little girls.

"Hey Germany!" a voice chirped from the speakers. "Japan and I are back from our little vacation!" Warren recognized the voice as Italy.

Jamie squealed. "Aw, isn't he _adorable_?"

"Shh!" Justice hissed. "Best part's coming up!"

"Hm?" Another voice grunted. _Germany. _"Zat's good. I hope Italy's culture wasn't _too _offencive. Now-" Warren herd the sparkle of sound effects, then Japan's voice.

"So good! The pizza was-a magnifico! And the women was so-a pretty it made my heart a-yay~! Yummy!"

Justice snorted loudly, and Jamie tried to hide the grin that was quickly growing on her face, her body shaking with silent laughter.

"WHERE ZE HELL DID YOU PUT THE REAL JAPAN?!" Germany exploded from the speakers, and Italy screamed.

"That's him, I swear!" Italy squeaked. "We just went sightseeing and ate together like we a-normally do!"

"Zen what made him become so freaky?!"

Justice grinned. "Wait for it..."

The screen moved to Japan, who was waving his arms in the air. "PASTA!"

Jamie finally broke, howling with laughter and collapsing onto the floor as Justice just grinned, stopping the video.

"And that's how ramen noodles were born!" Justice announced, causing Jamie to laugh again. Turning to the computer, she began to type something into the search box, sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth in concentration.

"Okay, there's this_ awesome_ Prussia scene you need to see-" suddenly the laptop snapped closed, a hand firmly on the top.

Justice looked up in alarm, her eyes burning with fury.

"Jay, I swear-" he voice stopped when she saw Warren. "Oh. It's Warren." She folded her arms, leaning back and placing her feet on the desk. "What's up?"

He didn't bother with his usual reply of "The sky," instead getting right to the point. "Justice, you need to stay up here until Haylin comes back. Under _no _circumstances are you allowed downstairs. You understand?"

"Why? Where'd Haylie go?"

"Out. She's picking something up."

"What's she getting?"

"She's getting-" Warren paused, exasperated. "Oh, _whatever. _You know what I'm talking about." he turned to Jamie. "Jamie, keep your older sister in line, okay?"

She nodded curtly, her little ponytail bouncing, then raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but what's going on down there?"

Warren sighed. "I-I'll tell you later," he stuttered, to which Jamie just smiled and nodded in understanding. Suddenly, there was a large yell downstairs, and Warren widened his eyes in alarm. Justice just smiled, looking at the stairs, and they all knew this wasn't a good sign.

_She's planning something._

Hoping it would be postponed for later, he rushed towards the door. "Ah!" he yelped. "Gotta go!" Grabbing his phone on the way out, he sprinted down the stairs, not very excited for what he was going to see.

He shook his head. _What Haylin puts me through these days..._

* * *

**A/N: Hello there! How was it? So... reviews, please X3**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: MY GLOB I AM SO SORRY LIKE SERIOUSLY YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TRULY SORRY I AM RIGHT NOW-**

**And MY GOD this chapter changes POVs so many times it isn't even funny. I hope it isn't too distracting and hard to follow...**

* * *

Justice had her curiosity quipped. It was absolutely obvious they were keeping something from _her _specifically.

She didn't like it, though it did make her slightly excited that there was a likely chance it was a surprise for_ her_, or at least something Haylin and her brother thought she would overreact to, and Haylin didn't trust Justice enough to show her until she came back from her errands.

Justice was intelligent.

No bragging intended.

It was true- she was easily able to understand complex ideas and guess an outcome when she had enough evidence.

She loved to know things.

But she hated when she didn't- more specifically, _couldn't_.

Justice hated the feeling of being in the dark of certain things; she liked knowing where she was going and what was going on around her, and just not knowing _anything _made her go insane, especially when she knew they were hiding something.

It was okay if she had no idea whatsoever, though that kind of thing wasn't easy to accomplish. Justice was very observant.

It was worse when the 'secret' was right under her nose- or, rather, under her feet.

The fact that _everyone in the house _knew about it other than _her _didn't help, either- it just made it a whole lot worse.

But she didn't understand one thing.

_Why are they hiding _people _from me?_

It didn't make any sense. From what she had been able to gather, they were hiding _people! People, _of all things!

The shouts, the screams, the fact that it sounded like there was a _party_ downstairs- it all pointed to _people._

It didn't make any sense, but Justice didn't give up.

_Okay, so there must be a lot of people down there- less than a classroom's worth, though still larger than a handful... eight to ten, perhaps? Probably. _Justice wrote that down with a half-bitten pencil of a scrap of paper she had been able to scrounge.

_Obviously men. She scribbled that down. _No argument there. Justice tapped the pencil on her chin thoughtfully.

_They're not kids, of course- the yells sound deep enough for them to be well past puberty, though they still sound young. Around college age. _She wrote that down, too.

But one thing struck her the most.

_I recognize their voices. _She wrote that down in large letters, underlining it several times and circled it, the last one just for the heck of it.

She knew it was important, and, if she found out, it would definitely give her the answer. Justice knew that.

But the thing was- _she didn't know who_.

It killed her- the names were on the tip of her tongue, she _knew _them, but she couldn't grasp on who exactly.

The other thing that bugged her- _How the heck do I know ten young men? And why would they keep people away from me? Even if they _were _celebrities, which is _highly _unlikely, they _know _I wouldn't care. At all._

_Well, _she added with a small chuckle, _if it were somehow Justin Bieber (though still unlikely) I would probably care- but only enough to give him a well-earned smack on the head. _

After a few moments of careful deliberation, she decided to put matters into her own hands.

Justice was going downstairs to see for herself, whether they liked it or not.

She glanced at her sister, Jamie- whom she nicknamed 'Jay', much to Jamie's annoyance- talking to Warren in hushed voices, obviously talking about _them._

Whoever 'they' were.

She decided to take a risk. "Um, hey guys!"

Catching their attentions, she tried to act inconspicuous, visibly relaxing. "I'm going to take a shower, okay? I feel a little dirty from the rain earlier."

Both Warren and Jay visibly narrowed their eyes in suspicion, but Warren, still glaring, nodded slightly.

"Sure. But don't take to long."

Justice flashed a smile. "Okay, whatever you say!" She grabbed a towel and some spare clothes, sprinting to the bathroom down the hall, intentionally choosing the one closest to the stairs.

Closing the door behind her, she sighed loudly, leaning on the door. After a moment of wiping her forehead, her sharp eyes carefully scanned the room.

_I need something perfect..._

After a few brief moments, Justice found it. There, in the corner, was a wooden stool. She walked up to it, careful not to disturb anything around her, and picked it up, analyzing it for a moment.

_Not hollow- good. Tall enough not to make too much impact noise- perfect!_

She couldn't help but smile slightly at her luck. _Hope they're not too angry I'm soaking their stools in the shower... It'd probably get damaged, but whatever. _

Shrugging it off and continuing on with her plan, she reached into the shower and turned it on, making sure to pull her hand away as the stream sputtered out of the nozzle head before settling into a strong, steady stream.

Justice then hauled the wooden stool into the shower and turned the nozzle in a more shallow angle, smiling in satisfaction when she heard the sound of the falling water become slightly muffled.

Just as if she were in the shower.

Almost squealing at her success, she rushed to the door and gingerly placed her ear on it, careful to not to disturb the door as she quieted, listening for Jamie and Warren.

As if on cue, Justice heard the steady approach of muffled footsteps, accompanied by the two hushed voices of none other than Jamie and Warren.

Warren was speaking. "Are you sure she's in there, Jamie? You know Justice."

Jamie sighed. "To be honest, I'm not so sure. Being Justice, she'd probably go downstairs to see our guests..." there was a pause. "Wait. Warren, weren't you going to explain to me who was down there? You didn't tell me earlier because Justice was there."

"Mhm." Warren began, sounding slightly lost in thought. "Well- wait." Warren's voice abruptly stopped in front of the door, and Justice could see his shadow, as well as Jamie's, under the door frame.

Slightly panicked, Justice held her breath and scrambled to the shower, silently hopping in just out of the way of the falling water.

Just as her bare feet hit water, Warren called from outside.

"Justice? You in there?"

"Yeah!" she called back, swishing her hand through the stream in an attempt to make it sound authentic. "What'd you need?"

"Are you taking a shower?" This time it was Jamie speaking, sounding wary.

Justice snorted loudly. "What do you think?!"

There was a moment of hesitation. "Uh... yes?"

"Well then, there's an answer!" Justice smirked. _Though it's not the right answer._

"Well... okay." she heard the tapping of receding feet, and Justice let go of the breath she was holding.

Carefully, she waded out of the shower to her spot by the door again, but was disappointed when the voices became too faint to listen to; all that she could make out were a few surprised gasps from Jamie, as well as a grunt from Warren.

_Still too little information, _Justice thought. Conjuring up a plan in her head, she mentally brought up the house plans, judging Jamie's and Warren's location.

After a few quick moments, Justice decided that they were going downstairs, and, in a rush of excitement, decided to follow them.

She slowly slid open the door, careful to keep the door from squeaking as she slid out the door, closing it silently behind her.

Almost instantly the voices grew louder, and Justice knitted her eyebrows in concentration. The voices were now more distinguishable, and, if she concentrated hard enough, she could pick out individual sentences and voices- though, still, to her annoyance, she couldn't identify who exactly.

_School? Course not. Do I know them from church? Nope... My parents' friends? No, not that either... On of the _Menchie's_ employees? That isn't it, either..._

Shrugging, Justice tiptoed down the stairs, determined to discover the identities of the guests.

* * *

Jamie's voice caught in her throat as Warren nodded slowly.

"Y-y-you're kidding me, r-right?" she finally sputtered out. She had taken a quick glance at the nations from behind the wall next to the main staircase, and she couldn't believe it. Like Haylin she had known right away that these men weren't just cosplayers, and she had kept staring at Italy before Warren pulled her back.

Warren had rolled his eyes at her 'fangirl shenanigans' (to which Jamie had protested with, "It's not shenanigans! I was just surprised, that's all!") and told her what Haylin told him.

Warren huffed. "No. I wish I was, but no."

Jamie grimaced. "Now I know why you didn't want to show Justice..."

"Yes. Now, do you want to go out there or not?" he raised an eyebrow, and Jamie gasped slightly.

"Really?" she squeaked, and Warren scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I need _someone _to watch these idiots. And I have stuff to do in the kitchen."

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "What kind of stuff?" she paused.

"...you're gonna bake, aren't you?"

"What?!" he sputtered. "I-I-I was going to cook something for the all of us!" he looked at Jamie, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "There are guests here! I can't hold down an opportunity to pursue my dreams and do something for them!"

Jamie sighed, thrusting her hands into her pockets. "Warren." she said. "You're really obsessed with your cooking, you know that, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Warren chuckled a little. "I know..."

Jamie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. But..." she let out a huff of breath, as if she was regretting what she was going to say next. "But sure." She rolled her eyes. "You can bake."

As Warren let out a whoop of victory, running to the kitchen before she could change her mind, Jamie murmured in wonder, "And why do I feel like a mother, all of a sudden...?"

She dismissed it with a sigh, walking after Warren with a weary smile.

* * *

Haylin, after arriving at Ms. Jensen's home and picking up the Oreo cheesecake like she had promised to (however, she hadn't been able to escape a box of chocolate she had affectionately dumped onto her- "For that adorable little twin brother of yours!" the old woman had said cheerfully), she groaned when she felt her phone vibrate.

Struggling to keep the bike steady- not to mention keeping all of the food in the basket without it falling out- Haylin hurriedly dug through her pockets, fishing out her phone. Stabbing the green button and squeezing the phone between her shoulder and ear, she screamed, "What in God's name do you want, Alexander Campbell?! I'm busy, if you can't tell!"

"Haylin!" Alex let out a loud sigh of relief at the sound of her voice, ignoring the fact that she was screaming at him. "You've gotta help me!"

She frowned. "Wha- With _what_?! Did you sabotage Amber's room again?!"

"No!" he sputtered. "I-I mean yes! I mean no- that's not the point! It-it's something else!" Alex seemed to hesitate, and, in the background, Haylin could hear... fighting?

Before he could speak again, Haylin spoke up. "Alex. Is there anyone else in the house with you? I thought you were home alone tonight."

As she waited for an answer Haylin heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line. "Well, uh..."

".Well what?" she prodded, impatient.

Another pause. "...you know that anime you watch?" Alex suddenly asked. "Heta- something? Ya know, the one with all the countries on steroids and all that weird stuff-"

Haylin's face twisted in bewilderment. _What the actually heck...? _"How does this have to do with anything...?"

"Just answer my question! Please!" He sounded desperate.

"Okay! Yes, yes, yes, of course I know about Hetalia! I'm the one who showed it to you in the first place, you idiot! What about them, Alex?!" she demanded.

There was another pause, and Haylin clenched her teeth in annoyance as she tapped a finger on the bike handle impatiently, her neck beginning to cramp a little.

"...Haylin, listen to this." He finally said, sounding dead serious- something that the usual snarky, airheaded and somewhat perverted teenager never did. There was a scuffle of feet, and as Haylin listened silently, accompanied only by the sound of the groaning gears of Justice's bike, completely baffled, the voices that had been screaming in the background became more distinct.

"I found them shivering in the rain out on my front yard..." Alex was heard muttering, his voice muffled by the yelling. "It sounds stupid, and I _know _you're gonna say it's stupid- because it is- but it's so _weird_ and messed up! Ju-just listen, and you'll know what I mean. Here."

As Alex fell silent, Haylin held her breath as she strained to listen. Eventually, after a few moments of static, two very distinct, and _very familiar_ voices could be heard.

"Lovi~! You should be nicer to this little American boy that was so nice to help us get out of the rain! Stop cursing and thank him!"

"Shut up, you damn tomato bastard! I do what I want! And it was _you're _damn fault we're in here in the first place!"

It took all of Haylin's willpower not to fall of her bike then and there at the whole gist of her situation.

"Why in God's name does life hate me so much right now?!" she screamed at the sky.

Alex, on the other hand, scoffed. "It's not that bad, Haylie. Really, you-"

"NO!" Haylin screeched into the phone, the bike dangerously tilting to one side and almost dropping the food. "It really _is _that bad, you idiot!"

"How?" Alex asked cluelessly, and Haylin almost smacked her face on the handles. _That idiot! Doesn't he understand anything?! _Making a split-second decision, she swerved her bike to the right, taking the turn towards Alex's neighborhood.

"Alex. Listen here." she hissed. "Stay there. Don't do anything. I'm coming. Do you have a ride to my place?"

Haylin could practically hear the American swallow. "Uh…yeah… I was gonna drive there." he said slowly.

She sighed, but continued. "Instead of you driving yourself, I'll drive you guys over here, okay?"

"What?!" Alex sounded as if he had spit out something bitter. "_Me?! _With that sugar-rushed Spaniard and swear-crazy Italian who curses even more than even Justice herself?! Are you crazy, man?! Freaking _insane_?! And why are_ you _driving?! I can drive perfectly on my own, ya know!"

Normally Haylin would start screaming at him by now, but she knew that he (surprisingly) had a good point and she really wasn't in the mood to argue. There was more important things to take care of. So instead she said, "Yes, I need to bring them-please don't ask, you'll understand later- and yes,_ I _am going to drive. Alex, I'm older than you! And I seriously _do not trust you_ to be behind that wheel!"

"But-"

"No buts, Alex!"

Haylin could hear him huff on the other side of the line. "You're starting to sound like my mother, Haylin. Which you aren't."

She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "That's absolutely great. Amazing. Wonderful. Like I actually _cared. _And I'm going over there right now, whether you like it or not." And, before Alex could object, Haylin had hung up, shut off her phone, and shoved it into her pocket, well on her way.

* * *

Jamie glanced into the kitchen, where Warren's cookie dough lay untouched, completely ignored and abandoned by its owner. She looked back into the living room, where Warren was talking to Italy and France, and Jamie could only guess them talking about gourmet food and cooking. Warren loved his gourmet food.

She snickered, laying back on the couch she was sitting on, silently chewing on some chocolate candy from a large glass bowl Warren had left out earlier in an attempt to please the guests. So far, as Jamie had observed, America had been taking the most (while being yelled at by England for obvious reasons), while Italy had cheerfully taken several of his own. Germany had yelled at him, too, for taking the candies, but Jamie noticed him take long glances at the bowl, even taking one or two when he thought no one was looking, with Jamie chuckling a little when she noticed his eyebrows go up slightly in surprise and pleasure at the taste.

_Warren may be a little annoying and childlike, but he knows how to make good chocolate. _She paused mid-chew. _A little like Italy, now that I think about it..._

She sighed, swallowing the rest of the candy, frowning slightly as the chocolate stuck a little to the back of her throat. Forcing the candy down her throat with effort, she stood up and stretched, yawning a little as she walked over towards Warren, Italy, and France, who had apparently dove into the topic of deserts.

"You're Italian?" Warren was saying, looking at Italy before turning to France. "And you're French?"

"_Si!_" chirped Italy with a grin, and France responded with a curt "_Oui._"

Warren's eyes literally sparkled. "Woah, seriously?! A-and both of you are chefs, too?!"

They both responded with their usual "_Si_" and "_Oui_"', and Warren practically beamed.

"That's amazing! I'm a big fan of both nations' cuisine, did you know that? They're both on the top of my list! Any kind of Italian pasta sauce is my favorite- though I have to say I have a soft spot for Alfredo and Romana sauce, those two are positively _amazing_- and don't get me started with French desserts."

Italy brightened. "Ve~! I love those pasta sauces, too! And also Marinara and Bolognese and Pesto and Umbria and Noci and..."

As Italy began to rant, France faced Warren with a raised eyebrow. "Do you 'ave any particular favorites?" he asked, a sparkle of excitement in his eyes. To him, it felt like forever since he had last had a serious conversation on the topic of food- _his _food, especially.

Warren nodded vigorously. "Well, yeah! I love all French food and desserts, of course- who doesn't?" Ignoring a choking noise that came from a wide-eyed bushy-browed Englishman, he continued. "But if I had to choose favorites, it'd probably have to be crepes, souffles- especially chocolate- and practically every single pastry out there." Warren smiled. "I've got to say, the French have perfected the art of pastry making."

England choked again (only to be hit by China on the head, saying "Stop that! You make us look bad!") as France just grinned. "_Oi_! Of course we 'ave, _monsieur _Warren! The French aren't known as the best pastry makers in ze whole entire world for _nothing._"

"...and basically every single pasta in the world! Ve~!" Italy finished with a grin, not noticing (or probably not caring) how he had been ignored by Warren and France for practically the whole entire time.

Warren grinned. "Well, I-"

He was suddenly cut off as a loud voice suddenly screamed, "HOLY JESUS- IS THAT J. MICHAEL TATUM AND TODD HABERKORN I HEAR?!"

Jamie could've sworn she could've collapsed and died right there and then.

* * *

**EDIT 10/29: FIXED UP SOME MISTAKES *is too embarassed to say what***

**I don't have much to say... It's eh...**

**For those reading _Newcomers_, I'm sorry for taking so long to update- life's been so annoying and terrible right now, but I'm writing up chapter 4 at the moment.**

**So... care to drop a review? **

**Well, then... Ciao~!**

**-PaintingMornings**


End file.
